Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Nicola Sturgeon confirms no immediate changes to Covid restrictions in Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon is updating MSPs on the Covid situation in Scotland. Photo: PA.

The first minister has announced that no immediate changes will be made to the Covid restrictions in Scotland.

A final decision on the future of the Covid vaccine scheme has not yet been reached and a further update will be shared next week.

Nicola Sturgeon said she hopes we can go through winter without any further restrictions, but all proportionate options will be kept under review.

She shared the update with MSPs at Holyrood following a government meeting this morning.

Discussions on the need to implement further restrictions on the lead up to Christmas have been ongoing.

Ms Sturgeon said threats posed by Covid are still with us and gave an update on the situation in Scotland following the COP26 summit.

She confirmed that there has been no “significant spike” in Covid cases connected to the event.

At this stage, it suggests the mitigations put in place for COP26 were a success.

She added: “Information published earlier today by Public Health Scotland suggests that of the people officially affiliated with Cop26, approximately four in every 1,000 tested positive for Covid through routine lateral flow testing.”

Increase in cases and vaccinations

There has been a gradual increase in cases over the past few weeks with a distinct variation among different age groups.

Much of the increase was in people under the age of 20, which can be connected to the success of the booster vaccine programme being rolled out to older age groups.

More than one million booster jabs have now been distributed across the country and an online booking portal was launched yesterday for over 50s.

More than 54,000 people have made online bookings since yesterday morning.

The JCVI updated their guidance yesterday by recommending the booster jab programme be extended to over 40s.

Ms Sturgeon said that getting vaccinated remains the single most important thing we can do, describing it as our civil duty.

She said: “You could be saving your own life or those of others.

“It’s never too late to get vaccinated.”

The first minister also encouraged all people in Scotland to take two lateral flow tests a week to prevent the spread of the virus.

Further, she reminded the public of the importance of wearing masks in indoor public places, working form home when possible and ventilation – which will also prevent the spread of other viruses.

Covid vaccine certification scheme

The first minister said the government is considering if an extension of the Covid passport scheme would be “justified and prudent given the current state of the pandemic”.

She highlighted that the vaccine certification scheme is used in other countries for a larger number of events and venues, including Wales who changed its rules yesterday.

This was discussed by the Scottish Government this morning, who will provide its final decision next Tuesday in light of the latest available data.

In response, Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross said the government has to provide businesses with certainty over potential closures and vaccine passport expansions.

He said: “Nicola Sturgeon is once again leaving workers and businesses in the dark.

“They might have less than two weeks to adapt to changes to the vaccine passport scheme at one of the busiest times of the year for the hospitality industry.

“This delay shows a total lack of respect for Scottish businesses who the SNP government expect to shoulder the costs of their scheme.

“The First Minister is hinting at the possibility of business closures but refusing point blank to outline what’s on the table.”

Provisionally, any changes to the scheme would come into effect from December 6.

Ms Sturgeon added that the government is now in a position to consider adding proof of a negative test as an alternative to vaccine certification,

Current exceptions would also be retained.

Businesses opposed to further restrictions

Ms Sturgeon said it would be “irresponsible” to not consider an extension, although she is “acutely aware” that many businesses are opposed.

Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said that today’s announcement felt like “nothing more than a temporary reprieve”.

He said: “The proposed extension of the vaccine passport scheme to more hospitality venues, just as the Christmas boom period begins, is both unfathomable and a devastating blow to the sector.

“We welcome the fact that the first minister has paused to consider the most up-to-date health data, especially given the depth of business opposition demonstrated by the poll we published today.

“However, the data the government has shared, which shows a drop in the number of people in hospital, does not justify further restrictions.”

The chief executive added that a strengthening of restrictions would be a “painful economic deterrent” for Scottish businesses.

Build-up to decision

Last week, Covid Recovery Secretary John Swinney said the government was considering an extension of the vaccine passport scheme to prevent another winter lockdown.

This was backed by Professor Devi Sridhar, chairwoman of Global Public Health at Edinburgh University, who said yesterday that she would “give the advice to do that”.

She added that there could be “more tightening of indoor settings where it’s riskier”.

Speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, she said: “The virus is still here, it is putting a lot of pressure on hospitals in Scotland, so it is better that we take a look at the problem as it really is and try to get ahead of it, to avoid harsher measures down the line.”

Several countries in Europe, including Austria, have already reintroduced partial lockdowns.

Latest figures

There have been 2,771 cases reported by health boards across the country, up from yesterday’s 2,288.

There have been 17 new deaths recorded as a result of coronavirus in the last 24 hours.

With new case figures showcasing an increase, the number of people being treated in hospital for the virus has also increased by eight, meaning today’s total is 779.

Of those in hospital, 57 require intensive care treatment – the same as yesterday.

Over the past 24 hours, 22,733 people have taken and registered Covid tests. The percentage of those tests which came back positive was 12.8%.